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Those who believe in the traditional definition of marriage see the ruling as a leap off a moral cliff.

"I believe that the world is moving further into darkness,” protest leader Vince Walsh said as he led a three-person protest outside Federal Court.

The demonstration began moments after Black officially made his ruling some 10 days after indicating how he would rule. The 10-day lapse was a courtesy to the state in order to give it time to prepare an appeal.

There is a temporary stay to the effectiveness of the decision as lawyers on both sides prepare to file briefs about whether the stay should remain in place while an appeal is made to the Sixth Circuit Court.

"You know, what we're trying to achieve here is full marriage equality," Cincinnati's first openly-gay elected council member Chris Seelbach said.

Seelbach and other supporters understand it will take time for the ruling to wind its way through the appeals process.

Michael Premo, campaign manager for Why Marriage Matters Ohio, explained what his organization is doing in the interim.

"In the meantime, we continue our work on public education; talking with people who don't agree with us on marriage equality and helping them change their minds," Premo said.

Walsh, who said he lives in western Hamilton County, acknowledges there have been gains by gay rights activists in recent years. But he sees a battle of Biblical proportion, a nation in moral decline.

"This judge signing this today opens the door for our tax dollars, we're going to have to pay for benefits of something we don't believe in,” Walsh said.

On the steps of City Hall, Mayor Cranley and half of Cincinnati's city council praised the ruling as an equal rights issue and an economic one.

"Increasingly Fortune 500 companies and others are very progressive on these issues,” Cranley said.

Cranley said life is too short and cruel to keep people from loving each other.

Citizens for Community Values issued a statement calling Black's decision "... another example of homosexual activists using sympathetic judges and the courts as a blunt instrument to force a redefinition of marriage and family on the people of Ohio."

As a result of Monday's decision, both names of same-sex parents legally married in other states must be included on birth certificates in Ohio.